For the Love of Wassily
by Keegan Elizabeth
Summary: “Daddy! Daddy!” she sings, as her brown eyes light up upon seeing him enter the kitchen. Grissom, Sara, Abby... and art.


A/N: Intended for my _Soup_ series, except it got out of hand. (Imagine that.) Also, a huge thanks to sara-cupcaked for the beta.

Disclaimer: *looks around* No, still haven't received my official-looking papers that says I own CSI. Until further notice, CSI and characters are not mine.

* * *

"Daddy! Daddy!" she sings, as her brown eyes light up upon seeing him enter the kitchen.

His lips curve upward in response as she lunges toward him and attaches herself to his legs, effectively immobilizing him. He bends slightly and scoops her up in his arms, settling her on his hip, before taking another couple of steps to greet his wife—his _very_ pregnant wife—hello.

"Welcome home," she murmurs against his lips, letting her lips linger on his a few seconds longer.

He straightens a bit reluctantly, and asks, "How are my two favorite girls?"

"We're good," she replies, and at his questioning, concerned stare, she repeats the sentiment and adds, "promise."

He nods, satisfied, but he's glad to be home again, so he can make sure she doesn't overdo things. Sensing that Abby is about to get restless in his arms from lack of attention, he shifts his focus to her.

"What did you do today, angelbug?"

"Oh, I drew you a picture, Daddy!"

"You did?" he asks, sounding suitably impressed.

"Uh-huh. Mommy, give me Daddy's picture?"

Shifting through the mess on the table (scribbled-on papers, crayons, coloring books, a box of teddy grahams, the book Greg had given her—_The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby_), Sara finds and hands him his picture.

"Wow, it's beautiful," he says, as his mind races to figure out what the beautiful picture actually depicts. He shoots Sara a furtive look, hoping she will provide him with some insight, but instead he sees her brown eyes dance with amusement at his predicament.

"Since you're here, I'm going to go lie down," she says, slowly getting to her feet. Knowing his tendency to worry, she adds, "I'm okay. I could just use a nap."

"Okay, but yell if you need anything," he tells her and she nods.

"Love you, Mommy," Abby says.

"Love you, too, baby." She reaches over and brushes a hand through her daughter's hair, then walks away.

"So, you like it?" Abby asks, drawing his gaze back to her. "You really _really_ like it, Daddy?"

"Yes, I really _really_ like it," he says and it is the truth, anything from his daughter is always perfect. And then he gets the epiphany, the grand epiphany that will save him from hurting his daughter's feelings, so he smiles. "Want to tell me the story behind the picture?" he asks, taking a seat at the kitchen table, hoping the background story will shed some light on the picture.

Abby grins and launches into story-telling mode. "It's us, Daddy."

"Us?" He tries (but kind of fails) to make the word sound more like a statement and less like a question. "Us, oh yes… it is. Isn't it?" He's not exactly seeing it but he doesn't have the heart to tell Abby that either.

"Yes," she continues, oblivious to her father's inner turmoil, "that's you," she points to a stick figure with a black star-shape on his chest. "That's a spider," she says, answering his unspoken question, "because you like bugs."

He nods, but wonders why the bug is on his chest. _Perhaps some things are better left unknown._

"Then that's me and there's Mommy." She points to a not-so-sticklike figure, which looks as if there's a hula-hoop around its middle.

_Ah, pregnant Mommy who hula hoops. It works._

"And all the other things…" he begins, hoping for more details.

"See, Daddy, there's my new baby sister—or brother. And I know you and Mommy said you don't get to choose what she's having, but Daddy I really _really _hope it's a baby sister."

On the page, there is one pink circle (baby sister, he assumes) and one, much smaller, blue circle (the unwanted baby brother, he bets).

Abby had told him many times—and everyone else, including the mail man, the grocery store clerk, waiters and waitresses, and the list went on—that she wanted a baby sister since they'd sat her down for the 'Mommy's going to have a baby' talk. He had been all for the stork delivering myth but Sara had been insistent that they should be honest with Abby—keep it simple but true. She had won, of course, and as her prize, he graciously allowed her to take the lead on the discussion. (She hadn't exactly agreed he'd been gracious—more like chicken (her words, not his)—but a husband couldn't be expected to win all minor disagreements, especially with a hormonal pregnant wife.)

He sighs softly. "I know honey, I know."

Abby plants a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek—perhaps thinking he had an inside track with the elusive baby**-**gender**-**decision**-**people.

"And then," she resumes her picture-deciphering and indicates the random scribbles with red x's through them, "these are cooties, Daddy. See that's why I want a little sister because little boys have cooties…"

He wants to groan, but holds back. Thanks to Nick, Abby now thinks all little boys have cooties. Nick had the heart-to-heart talk with Abby after overhearing Sara telling Catherine about the little boy who had a crush on Abby.

And to be honest, he would have been perfectly fine with his daughter thinking that, especially later on in life, say the infamous teen years and beyond. (He actually shudders when he thinks of those coming years.)

However, now that Sara is pregnant again, it's not so good. He doesn't want his daughter to call her (potentially) new baby brother "cootie face" because he has to face facts… his daughter would so do that, and out in public no less.

Realizing Abby is still talking (about cooties, of course), he tunes back in.

"… that's why I drew the red x's there because I wanted to say no to cooties."

_Just say no… hey, it worked for drugs. Say no to drugs, say no to cooties. It had a nice marketable ring to it…_

"So just in case Mommy gives me a little brother, I wanted to draw the cooties being gone… but you know, Daddy, that Auntie Catherine thinks you and Mommy should find out what Mommy is having. She says that Mommy's making it hard for her—"

"Hard for her?" he interrupts, frowning.

"Uh-huh." Abby nods rapidly. "I overheard Auntie Catherine talking with Miss Wendy the other day, and she said that Mommy was making it hard because how was she supposed to throw a decent baby shower without knowing whether Mommy is having a boy or a girl…"

He has to smile, there's no such thing as secrets anymore with Abby around, and he makes a mental note to talk to Catherine tomorrow to remind her that it's his and Sara's decision to not know the baby's gender.

"But Daddy I still don't get why Auntie Catherine wants to throw rain on Mommy?"

He laughs and explains to her what a baby shower is, and then realizes there are still a few objects unexplained. "And what are these?" he asks, pointing to them.

"That's a butterfly, Daddy," she says, as if it should've been obvious to him, "and then the other ones are monkeys. I love monkeys! They remind me of Uncle Greg."

He does have to kind of agree with her on her assessment of Greg.

"It's a lovely picture, sweetie. Thank you for drawing it for me. You've become my little Wassily Kandinsky," he tells her and stands, still holding her in his arms. "I'm going to take this to work tomorrow and hang it in my office, all right?"

"Sounds good," she agrees, hugging him tight.

And later, when nighttime comes and he tucks her in with a kiss goodnight, she whispers, "Daddy?"

"Yes, angelbug?"

"Who's Silly Dinsky?"

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A/N2: Wassily Kandinsky is credited with painting the first modern abstract works, and _The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby_ is by Laura Wattenberg.


End file.
